A mobile virtual network operator, MVNO, is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the radio spectrum or wireless network infrastructure over which the MVNO provides services to its customers. Different variants of MVNOs can be distinguished. In this invention the term MVNO refers to a full MVNO, which is characterized by the fact that it runs an own telecommunication system consisting of at least a GMSC and a HLR.
The telecommunication system of a full MVNO has interconnections to a hosting network operator, HNO, which provides the radio access network and also provides the originating and terminating MSC, which is needed to originate and deliver communication calls to and from the subscribers of the full MVNO. The telecommunication system of a full MVNO has also interconnections to several other operators and to national/international carriers. A full MVNO is also characterized by the fact that all calls originating from their subscribers in a network of a HNO, are forwarded by the HNO to the telecommunication system of the MVNO for further processing and routing. So a full MVNO is always transiting the originating calls of their subscribers towards the terminating operator or a national/international carrier.
Another aspect to consider is the charging principles applied in mobile networks. The fundamental principle is that the calling party will pay for the entire communication call. The MVNO thus receives money for the calls made by its own subscribers. At the same time the MVNO has to pay fees to the HNO for hosting the MVNO's subscriber and to other operators for routing the call across an interconnect network and across a terminating network. The network terminating a call charges a termination fee to the network operator, from which the call is coming in.
For the MVNO this means that the MVNO has to pay this termination fee to the network operator it is routing calls towards.
The termination fee is variable and depends on the resources utilized in the terminating network. It is calculated based on the geographical distance from the entry point to the termination point in the network, so the MSC where the terminating subscriber is registered. So the more kilometers the terminating subscriber is away from the network entry point, the more expensive this termination fee is.
The telecommunication systems of operators are interconnected in order to enable that the subscribers of these networks can reach each other. The point where two networks are interconnected is called Point of Interconnect, POI. In practical realizations several POIs exist between each two telecommunication systems, and the POIs are geographically distributed. This allows to load balance the traffic between two telecommunication systems, but also to influence the termination fee. When there is a choice, it is cheaper to route a call via the POI as close as possible to the geographical location of the terminating subscriber.
For calls terminating to subscribers belonging to the MVNO, the geographical location of the terminating subscriber can easily be determined by analyzing in the GMSC of the MVNO the Mobile Station Roaming Number, MSRN. Since the MSRN is allocated by the terminating MSC, it reveals the geographical position of the MSC, and routing in the GMSC can be optimized by selecting the POI closest to this geographical location.
However, since a full MVNO is acting as transit for all calls of his subscribers, there are situations where the MVNO cannot determine the geographical location. This is the case for all calls to mobile subscribers that are serviced by other network operators. The MVNO transits these calls to the GMSC of the network operator servicing the subscriber. In this situation, the MVNO has no means to determine the geographical location of the terminating subscriber, and therefore also no way to optimize the selection of the POI and the routing. This is mainly a problem for full MVNO operators, because they do not have access to information in the radio network.
This problem also arises for call cases involving Mobile Number Portability, MNP. MNP enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another. Such users are generally denoted as ported-out subscribers. So in case of MNP were a subscriber is ported-out, ported from a donor network operator to a recipient network operator, the destination number still looks like an own subscriber number.
If a subscriber is found to be ported-out, the MVNO has to transit the communication call to the so called recipient network, the network of the recipient network operator. Also in this scenario the MVNO has no knowledge about the geographical location of the terminating subscriber, and therefore also no way to optimize the selection of the POI and the routing. Consequently, communication calls to ported-out subscribers are to be handled in the same way as calls to subscribers serviced by other network operators.